It Has Begun!

December 2, 2004

That's right, it's officially award season as the IFP Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees. This year the leader of the pack was Sideways, which was nominated 6 times. Topping the list of studios was Fox Searchlight with 14 nominations.

The list on nominees are:

Best Features

Best Director Best Actress Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Screenplay Best First Feature Best First Screenplay
Best Debut Performance Cinematography Foreign Film Documentary Special Distinction - "performances so uniformly unselfish ... it became impossible to single any one of them out from their extraordinary achievement together."
Mean Creek - Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck and Carly Schroeder, ensemble cast.

John Cassavetes Award - Best feature made for under $500,000
  • Down to the Bone
  • Mean Creek
  • On the Outs
  • Robbing Peter
  • Unknown Soldier
Someone to Watch Award
  • Jem Cohen - director of Chain
  • Bryan Poyser - director of Dear Pillow
  • Jennifer Reeves - director of The Time We Killed
Truer Than Fiction Award
  • Born Into Brothels
  • Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed
  • Control Room
  • Farmingville
Producers Award In addition, filmmaker awards will be handed out February 26th to directors Mike Leigh and Michael Moore, actor Don Cheadle, Dan Talbot and the creative team behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

One last note regarding Sideways's nominations, with a production budget of $16 million the film is just outside the $15 million cap. But it is a soft cap and that limitation can be waived on a case by case basis.


Submitted by:

Source: Variety

Filed under: Sideways, Napoleon Dynamite, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Garden State, The Motorcycle Diaries, Woman Thou Art Loosed, Maria Full of Grace, Before Sunset, The Door in the Floor, Control Room, Mar adentro, We Don't Live Here Anymore, Coffee and Cigarettes, The Woodsman, Saints and Soldiers, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Red Lights, Mean Creek, Tarnation, Primer, How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass, Brother to Brother, Bright Leaves, Hiding and Seeking